goatherder
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Posts posted by goatherder
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Man...a four place Burkut. With a 400hp LS1 in it.
I am in lust. Well, if such a thing existed I would be...
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Damn...I wish I was home instead of out here in the Aleutians. I'd be on this one:
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Uhhh...and a 320 too:
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Anybody know about how fast that thing was going when it hit the water?
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What really rather annoys me more is the folks that disregard the skill and training of the crew and choose to give all the credit to some supernatural forces called forth by the pleadings of the passengers.
AMEN BROTHER!
Most people are just two-legged sheep.
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I'll say this: It nice to see America make a hero out of (and pay homage to) someone who's actually done something significant, rather than some football/baseball/whatever player or even worse...some hollywood celebrity or rap musician.
Things are tough right now...morale is not so good. We could use some real heros. This guy qualifies.
You might say that any pilot trained in that aircraft could've done the same thing...but there haven't been many airliners ditched in the water with the same result. Most have experienced 'catastrophic structural failure' upon impact. Circumstances conspired...and this guy pulled it off. He deserves an atta boy.
Good on him
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Oh yeah, I know...alot of guys can't get them dialed in and remove them. Mostly they fight cooling problems.
But Al Wick details his installation pretty well, and its on a canard plane. He specifically addresses cooling system problems and how he solved them...so I'm thinking that his formula is probably pretty solid. I'd start off with a big-ass belly scoop to ensure enough air (ducted and sealed to the radiator) and then cut it down for drag reduction later. And I'd have a radiator custom fabricated rather than screwing with old evap cores and the like. No dumpster diving for de plane.
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Bad thought. Don't hotwire PVC
Oops. My bad. Just a passing thought.
I hate bad smells...
Go ahead and put a car motor in your plane and spend your time tinkering instead of flying. I like to fly I tinker enough at work.
Rumour has it that Subaru started off building airplane engines, which is why their engine is this flat configuration rather than an inline or vee. Then they put their plane engine in their cars. LOTS of these things in the air and have accumulated alot of hours. Look at the RAF Gyroplanes. I might tinker for awhile...but I'd be shoving my truck down the road with it long before it ever gets hung on an airframe, and thus flatten out the learning curve somewhat.
This is interesting :http://www.maddyhome.com/canardpages/pages/alwick/index_files/Page475.htm
BTW BIg Steve - Your project looks good. I like the way you did the canopy.
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Nice looking plane man...definitely an aesthetic improvement. Looks like you used thicker foam for the side panels and then hollowed out the inside ???
Actually, it just occurred to me that one could hotwire out the hollow, and then glue the offcut to the opposite side to form a curved panel. Just a thought...
RE: Main gear position -
I do know one thing. Here it is If you move your gear back you will increase your rotation spead. Which in my small mind lengthens take off roll. The tipping thing is a hastle but I want to rotate if you know what I mean.
True - but doesn't takeoff roll depend on how fast you accelerate to rotation speed?
Nothing I own is slow. I'm thinking an EJ25 Subaru w/ an Ivoprop. Maybe hang a vortec blower on the front after I get things sorted out.
Stand on the brakes, set the prop to fine pitch, mash the gas, wait till she starts to skid and then drop the brakes. Kinda like power-brakin' my old Firebird.
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Now this is what I was after when I started this thread and I asked the question "does anybody KNOW...?"
I knew somebody out there did. You do. Thanks for the reply.
If you don't mind, I'll get in touch with you when I start building bulkheads and such....and maybe pick your brain a little more.
Thanks again Joe.
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Ok, well it was his son I was communicating with. He said he thought it was an 11 inch stretch; but his memory was a bit fuzzy as the plane was completed 20 years ago. Maybe he meant 11" LOA.
He also mentioned making the canard longer but said they ended up cutting it back down.
What about fuselage widening?
Seems like you could widen the entire fuselage/spar combo by a 2-4" and still use the plans strakes and stuff. Of course cowlings would be roll-your-own.
Do you have drawings by chance?
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These guys build electric water pumps that actually do work for street use.
Remote mount electric pumps:
http://www.meziere.com/displaycategory.aspx?id=244,352,336,175
Block adapters for Mazda:
http://www.meziere.com/displaycategory.aspx?id=244,419
And of course; chevy small block:
http://www.meziere.com/displaycategory.aspx?id=244,352,336,175
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I saw a TERF CD on Ebay - starting bid $5. Bid but didn't meet the reserve. Emailed the seller to ask what his reserve was, and this is the message I recieved:
Hello and thanks for the interest
You are in luck ... we just lowered our reserve recently from $190 USD to $150 USD. That is half off our regular retail price for the same brand new Rutan Aircraft Factory CD ROM Encyclopedia from the only source authorized by Burt Rutan himself.
Don't worry about the auction. Ebay is just an advertising avenue for us.
If you are interested just contact me directly from 3pm to midnight EST .. New York Time.. or order from our automated corporate web page. It will initially show as full price. I will immediately go into the system and make your final bill match the offer here.
Be sure to let me know who you are by name.
Sound like a fair deal.
Very Best Regards
Matthew Tait
President & Chief Engineer
TERF Inc.
terf dot com
mtait at terf dot com
248 210 8009 direct line
Then again...maybe everybody already knew about this but me...
I emailed him back and told him I posted this assuming he would give all the other forum members the same deal.
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Sounds like you boys want a Berkut.
I DOES want one. Just can't afford all that Farbon Ciber.
Maybe a little for the wing spars though. And maybe a bit of S-glass too. And some Kevlar for a nose scraper.
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Well I was digging around and found an email address for a guy who built a modified plane that led to the developement of another plane that everybody holds in high esteem. He was kind enough to email me back to answer my dumb questions even though he didn't know me from Adam, but I don't know that he'd want to be involved in this discussion. 'Nuff said.
Apparently moving the wheels aft 2" increased his rotation speed about 5kts. Apparently they stretched the fuselage 11" and put full controls in the rear seat.
That would be cool. My wife could land the plane if I have too many in-flight cocktails...
And OBVIOUSLY I'd need to do more research before I made a decision. Duh.
And maybe ask some questions too.
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Does anybody KNOW how stretching a Long-EZ fuselage an extra few inches - and yes, I mean a stretch between the wing and canard - would affect the flight characteristics of the aircraft?
Assuming that you could move weight around to re-balance fore & aft, what difference would say...a 6" stretch make in the way the thing flies?
(And yes, I've read the other threads with all the warnings and "thou shalt nots"...but I didn't actually see the question answered)
I know there's some real smart fellers on this forum...can anybody answer this?
Also, I have it on good authority that if you move the landing gear 2" aft the plane will stand on its gear rather than falling on its ass as soon as you step out of it. How about that?
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Ok Mr. Rocket Man...what kind of glue are you guys smearing on that fancy plastic spaceship?
Is it a proprietary product or something that's commercially available?
It still just amazes me that something made of plastic can be made to withstand the forces and heat of space flight and re-entry. From an engineer's perspective I'm sure it all makes sense...but for most of us oxen it seems alot like PFM.
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Thanks for the info guys.
Steve - I would like to come and take a look at your project if possible. It might be a while though...as I write this I am in the middle of the Gulf of Alaska, steaming toward Dutch Harbor. I'll be fishing for a month or two.
I'd like to take a look at both yours and Mfreyer's projects when I return.
I'm leaning toward the MAS epoxy as well. I'll get the MGS spec sheet and them call MAS (as you did) myself for comparison.
I wanna build cheep...but not if it means using anything substandard.
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I've read on this forum about the different types of epoxies people are using. MGS seems to be a favorite. West System does not. Actually I've used West System and can attest to the exotherm and blush problems. There's another Epoxy out there called MAS, and they sell a low-viscosity resin made specifically for fiberglass layups. They claim no blush, no VOC's and have three different hardeners which are blendable. Here's the link:
http://www.masepoxies.com/public/index.cfm?fuseaction=prodbrws.publicdetail&productid=69471
Now, I realize that this product was designed for boats. Boats are designed to take alot more of a pounding than a plane. So if a resin is strong enough for a boat...shouldn't it be strong enough for a plane?
How can I determine the suitability of this product? Is there a test?
The reason I'm asking is that West Marine sells this stuff, and I have a wholesale account with them. I can probably get it for about half the cost of MGS from Wicks.
I know, I'm a cheap bastard. I want to build a plane...but I got kids to feed too.
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I have a question and I was hoping that someone - maybe some of you aeronautical engineering types - might be able to answer it in a way that I can understand.
I think I understand the concept of "flutter" and why it occurs - basically the same principle as a reed on a clarinet. It's an oscillation induced by air pressure against the leading edge of the wing, right? And the pressure becomes so great that it overcomes the stiffness of the wing and makes it get all wobbly.
SO - assuming a constant amount of engine power (thrust), the higher you fly the faster you go. This due to the air being thinner and there isn't as much air pressure acting on the plane for the engine to overcome.
Iv'e read on this forum that flutter is said to occur at a certain speed for a given airframe. If flutter is a pressure-induced oscillation, and if the thinner air at higher altitudes is allowing flaster flight due to lower air pressure on the plane, then why would'nt flutter occur at a higher speed at higher altitudes??
Seems like it would take more speed to get the same amount of pressure on that leading edge when the air is thinner...
What am I not getting here?
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That sounds great - I'd like to look at both your projects. I might be leaving for the Bering Sea fairly soon so it might be a couple of months until I have the time...
So Steve - what I'm hearing is that AFTER I spend the required time with the instructor in their cessna, I could solo in my own plane and work off the remainder of the time required for the exam that way? If so, that sounds like a better way to go.
But how would I get the license in my own plane? Doesn't the examiner have to ride with you?
I guess I need to do a little more homework here. Thanks alot for the info.
Long EZ Canard Bolts!!
in Long-EZ
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Those bolts have weight bearing on the threaded portion of the bolt. The weight needs to be born on the non-threaded portion - on the smooth round surface and not on the pointy little edges of the threads.
This is a general rule with a bolt in shear, no?
Longer bolts, man.